High-earning New York City residents can save nearly $200,000 by ditching the Big Apple’s exorbitant rents and taxes for the sun-soaked beaches of Miami, according to a recent study.
Financial information provider SmartAsset analyzed how much people raking in six figures in cities like New York, San Francisco and Chicago would save if they packed their bags for Florida’s biggest city.
A Manhattan resident with a $650,000 salary would save $195,000 because of Florida’s lack of a state income tax and cheaper cost of living, SmartAsset found.
Workers with a $650,000 salary in New York face an effective tax rate of 45% in New York — when you factor federal, state and local taxes — which drops to 35% as Miami resident.
The same Manhattanite making $150,000 could save nearly $50,000 by decamping to Miami, according to the study.
A New Yorker’s cost of living would also be reduced tremendously if they moved out of Manhattan — where the average overhead is 137.6% above the national average.
In Miami, costs are only 22.8% above the national average, the study found.
Manhattan recently clocked record-high median rent for the third consecutive month.
According to the latest rental market report from appraisers Miller Samuel and brokerage giant Douglas Elliman, the borough’s median rent price was $4,395 per month in May — a 3.6% month-over-month climb from April’s $4,241-per-month median.
That April figure marked a 1.6% month-over-month increase from March’s $4,175 median, which broke last July’s record of $4,150.
For reference, the median rent in Miami in May was $2,900 — a slight increase from the $2,840 monthly median in April, according to figures by Zumper.
Miami residents have been blaming surging rents on New Yorkers since the pandemic, when many Manhattan residents flocked south in favor of lower taxes, warmer weather and more lax COVID restrictions.
High-taxed residents of San Francisco and Chicago would also bolster their savings with a Miami move, SmartAsset found.
In San Francisco — where the cost of living is 83% above the US average and the effective tax rate is 46% — people making $650,000 per year will pocket $153,000 more in Miami, according to the study.
Wealthy Chicagoans may have less incentive to move, aside from the weather. A Windy City resident making $650,000 would save just $10,000 because Chicago’s cost of living 17.1% over the norm, even though the effective tax rate is 40%, the study said.
